Miso Hemp Split Pea Soup

Rob is still at home but definitely not loafing about. He has decided he can do more cleaning (aka throwing things out) when I am not around. Apparently, I make throwing things out difficult. Case in point: now that we have zero devices that can read CDs and DVDs (except the car which can read CDs), we want to get rid of all our CDs. I completely agree. However, after Rob nicely packed them up, I went through them and pulled out ones to give to my parents. How could they not like Delerium, Orbital and Bjork?

Anyways, yesterday Rob decided to try to sell them. I was impressed Rob got almost $80 from the closest music store for their top picks. He will try another store tomorrow.

Anyways, still learning the ropes with my pressure cooker. I really like yellow split peas but I knew my stash was old… and I don’t like finicky beans that just won’t cook. Pressure cooker to the rescue! I took a standard recipe and put it in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes, a bit longer than JL’s recommended 6 minutes for her split pea soup and marginally longer than this recommended 10 minutes. Well, let’s just say the pressure cooker pulverized my split peas. The extra liquid sopped it up nicely. No immersion blender needed for such a silky soup.

Even without a pressure cooker, this soup would be easy to make. And highly recommended, too. The miso adds a nice umami and the hemp seeds added a bit more texture which was lost with the split pea explosion. I added a garnish of crushed walnuts, too.

1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat oil, Once hot, add onion and saute for 5 minutes until tender. Add garlic and carrots and saute for 2 minutes more.

2. If using an (electric) pressure cooker, transfer onions and carrots to a pressure cooker, add the bay leaves, split peas and water. Bring to pressure and pressure cook on high for 8-10 minutes. I did 15 minutes with a natural release and they virtually fell apart.

If using a regular pot, add the bay leaves, split peas and water. Turn up heat to bring a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 60-90 minutes until the split peas have cooked through, almost falling apart. Remove the bay leaves.

3. Stir in the miso, making sure to let it dissolve (you may want to remove a small amount and dissolve it separately). Stir in the hemp seeds. Add walnuts prior to serving. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

I think Rob was drawn to the name: The EZ Bean Cooker. If you want an electric pressure cooker, I would probably opt for something with more functions. Some have a slow cooker function, too, which would have been nice!

This soup sounds exactly like what my sick self needs! I’ve been doing some purging of stuff myself and it feels so good, so I support Rob and his throwing out things. All the extra space feels awesome!